The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-03-16
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Swelling Of Jordan"

DAY SESMON.
Subject: "The Swelling Of Jordan
TEXT: "If thou hast run 1rith the footmea
and they hare apea,-ied thee, then ho,1 cans
thou contend pith horses? and if in the ldno
of peace, lrherein thou trustedst, they 1cedrieo
thee, then ho,o ,Uilt thou do in the s1oeuing o.
JorddnT nT-Jeremiah Xii, 5.
Not in a petulant, but in kindly terms
must complain that wrong has been done
me and the cause Of honest Journalism by 6
pretended sermon that IS going the rounds O.
hundreds Of papers with my name appended
q sermon entitled: "Frauds Detected" text
Numbers, Ch 81, v. %: 'But If ye will not
DO 20, behold, We have sinned against the
Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.
Not one sentence Of that pretended sermon
did preach. If this were the only offense
of the kind would not speak Of it. Such
fraud is not only wrong to me but to the
gentlemen who, at these tables, Sabbath by
Sabbath, take accurate report OF what IS SAID
and done; and is gross wrong to the t~o
thousand newspapers which give my sermon
In full to their readers, and often at great ex'
pense to themselves The only fault have
to find with the newspaper press Of this coun.
try is that they treat me too well But
cannot be made responsible for entire ser.
mons, not one word Of which did preach
But now turn from personal explanation to
the more important subject of the text
Jeremiah had become impatient with his
troubles. God says to him: '"If yon cannot
stand these small trials and prosecutions, what
ale you going to do when the greater trials
and prosecutions Gomez If you have been
running race with footmen and they have
beaten you, what chance is there that you
viii outrun horses?' And then the figure is
changed. You know, in April and May, the
Jordan overfows its banks, and the waters
rush violently on, sweeping everything before
you are overcome with smaller trials and
vexations which have assaulted you, what
will will you do when the trials and annoy
ance and prosecutions Of Life come in a
freshets" eff in the land of peace wherein
thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how
wilt thou do in the swelling of JordanF'
propose, if God will help me, in a very
practical way to ask, if it is such difficult
Ching to get along without the religion of Je-
sus Christ, when things are comparatively
smooth, what will we do without Christ amid
the overpouring misfortunes and disasters Of
life that may come upon us? If troubles,
slow as footmen, SuTpaSS us, what will we do
when they take the feet Of horses2 And if
now in our lifetime we are beaten back and
submerged of sorrows because we have not
the religion of Jesus to comfort us, what will
we do when we stand in death, and We feel
all around about us 'the swelling Of Jordanf"
The fact that you have come here, my brother,
my sister, shows that you have some
things you believe in common with
myself You believe that there is God.
There is not an Atheist in all this house. I
do not believe there ever was a real Atheist
in all the world. Napoleon was on q ships
deck bound for Egypt. 1t was bright
starry night, and as he paced the deck, think
the battle, he heard two men on the deck in
conversation about God; one saying there
was God and the other saying there was
aone Napoleon stopped and looked up at
the starry heavens, and then he turned to
these men in conversation, and said: "Gentle-
men, heard one of you say there was no
God; If there is no God, will you please to tell
me who made all thatF' Ay, if you had not
been persuaded of it before, you are
declare the glory of God and the earth shows
HIS handiwork. But you believe more than
that; you believe that there was a Jesus; you
believe that there was Cross; you believe
that you have an immortal soul; you believe
that it must be regenerated by the spirit of
God, or you can never dwell in bliss eternal.
think great many of you will say that you
believe it is important to have the religion Of
Jesus Christ every day of onr life, to smooth
US imperturbable amid all the annoyance and
vexat.ons Of life. You and have seen so
many men trampled down by misfortunes
because they had no faith in Jesus, and you
say to yourself: "If they were so easily
overcome by the trials of life, what will
it be when greater misfortunes come
upon them heartbreaking calamities, tre-
mendous griefsp' Oh, if we have no God
to comfort US when our fortune goes, and we
houses are deSolate, what will become of US?
What sad thing it is to see men, all un-
helped OF God, going out to fight giants Of
trouble; no closet Of prayer in which to re-
treat, no promise Of mercy to soothe the soul,
no rock OF refuge in which to hide from the
blast. Oh, when the swift coursers of trouble
are brought up, champing and painting for
the race, and the reins are thrown upon their
necks, and the lathered fanks at every spring
feel the stroke Of the lash, what can we do on
foot with them? How can We compete with
thema II, having run with the footmen, they
wearied us, how can we contend with horses?
We have all yielded to temptation. We
have been surprised afterward that so small
an inducement could have decoyed us from
the right How Insignificant a temptation
has sometimes captured our soul! And if
that is so, my dear brother, what will it be
when we come to stand in the presence Of
temptation that prostrated David, and a
Moses, and Peter, and some of the mightiest
men IN all Gods kingdom7 Now we are
honest; but suppose we were placed in some
path Of life, as many Of Gods children have
been. where all the forces Of earth and hell
combine to capture the souli Without Jesus
we would 90 down under it. II already we have
been beaten by insignificant footmen, we
would be distanced ten thousand leagues by
the horses. All, I don't like to hear a man
say: II could not commit suck 8 sin as that.
can't understand how man could be car
ried away like that" You don't know what
you could do If the grace Of God left you You
know what John Bunyan said when he saw a
man staggering along the street, thoroughly
embruted in his habits. He said: There
goes John Bunyan, but for the grace Of Goo" "
I can say when I see one utterly fallen:
'Tnere goes Dewitt Talnage, but for the
grace Of God!" If we have been delivered
from temptation 1t is because the strong arm
Of the Lord Almighty has been about
us, and not because we were any better than
they. 1t is a great folly to borrow trouble.
II we can meet the misfortunes of day, we
will be able to meet the troubles of to-mor-
row; but suppose now if through lack OF
the religion of Jesus, we are overthrown by
small sorrows, does not our common sense
teach us that we cannot stand up against
great ones? If we cannot carry pound, can
we carry thousand pounds! If we are discom-
fted coming into battle with one regiment, a
brigade will cut Us to pieces. If we are unfit
to cope with one small trial, won't we be
overcome by greater ones! If the footmen
are too much for us, won't the odds be more
fearful against US when we contend with
horses? thank God that some of His dear
children have been delivered. How was it
that Paul could say: ''Sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; hav,
ing nothing, yet possessing all things" And